"Australia's favourite country musician” is a pretty great title to have. You know, considering just how much country we have. Lee Kernaghan has long held that position, possibly ever since his 1992 hit, Boys From The Bush celebrated the act of working a long harvest before going into town and celebrating with a beer and some boot-scooting.
“I feel like that was a big hit and everything, but it's just one song and one idea, you know?” the man affably explains. “It's been a long while since I wrote that song, and while I'm grateful for the attention it got way back then and everything, there's a lot more to my music now.” Testament to this is his 2012 album, Beautiful Noise, which is still the main fuel behind his touring schedule and which won him four Country Music Awards in Tamworth.
“It's a career highlight, but the one that probably meant the most to me was the top-selling album of the year for Beautiful Noise. That's the one voted by the people who matter the most: the people out there who buy the album and come to the shows.” It's a bit of a mental stretch for us city people to imagine a country musician constantly selling out shows, even if he is Lee Kernaghan. But it's the reason why the Beautiful Noise tour is still going, coupled with his always grateful nature. The CMAs once again saw a big crowd come out to see Kernaghan perform – and pick up a bunch of gongs – and did more than expected to reinforce the strength of country music in Australia, especially in a time when it's at risk of being forgotten amongst the umpteen other genres poking out every year. “The Country Music Awards are the pinnacle of the year for us country musicians. I guess it's comparable to the CMAs in America. It really puts the focus on the artists, but not only the established artists, also the new talent that's coming through. And there's a lot of it out there, coming from the farms and everything; it's just a matter of hearing it.”
Responding to the flack that country music has been copping, Kernaghan is decidedly protective. “It's still going on, mate, it's huge, don't doubt that,” he argues. “I just clicked over 100,000 followers on Facebook, and a lot of those artists who released products last year made it into the top ten on the ARIA charts, the mainstream charts. Every year in Tamworth you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a journalist who will fly in from one of the big city newspapers to poke fun at country music or write a negative article about country music and country people. Frankly, I'm over it; it's kind of getting boring now. So I take it with a grain of salt. The most important thing is great songs, great performances and a legendary crowd around Australia who come out to the shows and support our brand of homegrown music so incredibly well.”